The level of talent in the PSP Professional Division is undisputedly the fiercest in the world. Teams from all divisions train week in and out to ultimately one day become a Professional team in the PSP. Actually making the advancement into Pro however, has historically been too large of a move for most teams to make.

The PSP would like to change this by putting a system into place for fresh teams to move into an even stronger Pro League.

The PSP Professional teams will compete against each other in the 2013 PSP Dallas Open. The top 10 teams from that event will move on to PSPs Event #2 and play in the newly established Champions Division. They will perform on the main field for all the glory in front of thousands of fans watching from the PaintballAccess.com webcast and the PSP grandstands.

The other Pro teams from the Dallas Open will be enlisted in a new division known as the Challengers Division. They will be joining other teams to be named at a later date. The group of teams in the Challengers Divisions will use the same format and rules, but play on a secondary Professional field during the prelims and will play their final match on the main field for all their fans to watch. Starting after Event #2, the top two teams from the Challengers Division in each event will move up and compete in the PSP Champions Division for the following event. They will be replacing the bottom 2 finishers from the previous events Champions Division, who will instead perform in the Challengers Division.

This system of constant circulation will continue event by event for seasons to come. It is now more important than ever for teams to give their all in each match  as they no longer have just one goal of winning the event  but must perform at their top in every game to make sure they do not suffer the consequence of being knocked out of the Champions Division. Likewise, the Challengers Division teams at each event have the option to perform and move up for the following event.

If you want to get sponsored, present yourself as a mature adult, not a four year old with a crayon.

The level of talent in the PSP Professional Division is undisputedly the fiercest in the world. Teams from all divisions train week in and out to ultimately one day become a Professional team in the PSP. Actually making the advancement into Pro however, has historically been too large of a move for most teams to make.

The PSP would like to change this by putting a system into place for fresh teams to move into an even stronger Pro League.

The PSP Professional teams will compete against each other in the 2013 PSP Dallas Open. The top 10 teams from that event will move on to PSP’s Event #2 and play in the newly established Champions Division. They will perform on the main field for all the glory in front of thousands of fans watching from the PaintballAccess.com webcast and the PSP grandstands.

The other Pro teams from the Dallas Open will be enlisted in a new division known as the Challengers Division. They will be joining other teams to be named at a later date. The group of teams in the Challengers Divisions will use the same format and rules, but play on a secondary Professional field during the prelims and will play their final match on the main field for all their fans to watch. Starting after Event #2, the top two teams from the Challengers Division in each event will move up and compete in the PSP Champions Division for the following event. They will be replacing the bottom 2 finishers from the previous event’s Champions Division, who will instead perform in the Challengers Division.

This system of constant circulation will continue event by event for seasons to come. It is now more important than ever for teams to give their all in each match – as they no longer have just one goal of winning the event – but must perform at their top in every game to make sure they do not suffer the consequence of being knocked out of the Champions Division. Likewise, the Challengers Division teams at each event have the option to perform and move up for the following event.

The fight begins March 14, 2013 at the PSP Dallas Open. Team Registration for all divisions opens soon at PSPevents.com.

You try going from D1 to pro...you would get killed your first few years too. Its a HUGE skill level jump. So vicious will end up getting better as they play pro so PE did not drop them because they were not winning that is bullshit.

This is true, they really should bring semi-pro back..

Rumors say they are.

If they bring semi-pro back, it, and the pro level should use a relegation system similar to the Millennium series and Premier League soccer. Still have the D1 winner move up to semi-pro, but then the top 2 or 3 teams in semi-pro replace the bottom 2 or 3 teams in the pro bracket. Not 100% sure how it works in the Millennium series, but I think it would be helpful for teams like Aftershock, Thunder, 187, and CEP so that their development into competitive pro teams isn't as painful as Vicious's was when they first went pro, and CEP's has been since they moved up.

I feel kind of prophetic.

If you want to get sponsored, present yourself as a mature adult, not a four year old with a crayon.

This is actually a really awesome thing they are doing. It is one step more to make paintball better developed as a sport and I think it will make it a little more interesting. I am just hoping we do not get stuck with a constant rotation of current pro teams that just happen to do bad at one even then the next one place top in the Challenger Division. I want to see some upsets!

this way they can allow more teams into the pro bracket without running into what happend at cup, I was wondering how they were going to accomodate the new teams coming back into psp, i.e. Impact and tontons

I think this is a great idea. The teams that have been working hard have a chance to put all their hard work to the test. Hopefully this will also motivate other teams to step it up and realize anything is possible. I can't wait to see the competition in Dallas now!!!

This looks like it will make for a very exciting paintball season, I'm looking forward to it!
Over at the View From the Deadbox Blog, Damage's coach did a great post on how this will affect the competition this seasonhttp://viewfromthede...t-building.html

Finally the pro teams will have to fight for their spot in the pro division.But it's better to have it season to season and not event to event.(Like Millennium)

Well it will be both season to season and event to event. The event to event upper and lower pro divisions will mean even the teams that know they won't make Sunday will still need to play hard, while the end of the season relegation to D1 means that the teams at the bottom of the lower pro section can't just coast once they realize their season is over because they may end up relegated.

If you want to get sponsored, present yourself as a mature adult, not a four year old with a crayon.

Finally the pro teams will have to fight for their spot in the pro division.But it's better to have it season to season and not event to event.(Like Millennium)

Well it will be both season to season and event to event. The event to event upper and lower pro divisions will mean even the teams that know they won't make Sunday will still need to play hard, while the end of the season relegation to D1 means that the teams at the bottom of the lower pro section can't just coast once they realize their season is over because they may end up relegated.

never understood the logic behind this.there already isn't dorito side coaching. why take away snake side coaching and pretty much make the fans sit there in silence and watch an otherwise exciting game.PSP is just as much of a spectator sport as any other. it lets parents/friends/family get out there and be a part of the game and help them get into it.

when my parents took me to my first tournament years and years ago, they were pretty much sitting on the sidelines silently waiting for games to finish, so i could then explain to them what happened. If there was coaching back then, i could have said "hey mom, when you see someone get into this bunker, yell and let everyone know!" or "Hey dad, when you see someone on the other team walk off, let us know" and BOOM, instantly theyre a part of the game and having fun instead of just sitting there wondering when they can leave.

while i didn't think dorito side coaching should have gone away, taking away snake side coaching would completely ruin the fun for many spectators that get into the game.

most people who play snake regularly will tell you, getting coached doesn't just make it easy street in the snake. Being able to take directions at the drop of a hat while still utilizing your own, personal field awareness takes a massive amount of skill. Alternatively, having a coach who knows whats going on and can guide you effectively is a huge asset for a team.